Fernbridge Capital Management LP Sells 155,524 Shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)

Fernbridge Capital Management LP reduced its stake in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 155,524 shares during the period. Sherwin-Williams makes up approximately 2.0% of Fernbridge Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Fernbridge Capital Management LP’s holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $32,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SHW. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its position in Sherwin-Williams by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,818 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $694,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Tamar Securities LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tamar Securities LLC now owns 48,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,608,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,636 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $787,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 117,055 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,676,000 after acquiring an additional 4,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Sherwin-Williams by 24.1% in the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514 shares in the last quarter. 77.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SHW. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $396.47.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SHW opened at $396.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $99.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.46, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12 month low of $272.34 and a 12 month high of $400.31. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $377.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $345.63.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.20 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 74.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Sherwin-Williams’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.49%.

Insider Transactions at Sherwin-Williams

In other news, CFO Allen J. Mistysyn sold 14,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.83, for a total value of $5,326,371.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,301,041.60. This represents a 18.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gregory P. Sofish sold 2,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.63, for a total transaction of $971,185.95. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,396,349.27. This represents a 28.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Sherwin-Williams

The Sherwin-Williams Company engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coating, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. It operates through three segments: Paint Stores Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group.